Limits Chapter 140

It was dark already so I said to her "We need to camp here . I have a few animal skins with me so we can use that as our beds . Let me make the fire first" . She nodded slightly while I went to collect some wood for the fire . A while later, I returned with enough wood and lit the fire .

I took out some animal skins and fur to use as our beds . I wanted to hand some of them to her but she looked at me and said "I'm fine, I don't need to sleep" . I was a bit stunned and asked "What? You don't need to sleep at all?" to which she laughed and said "No, I do sleep but I'm not tired . I don't have to sleep as often as you humans do" . I responded "Alright, as you like" and started to make my makeshift bed .

It didn't take long for me to finish . I laid down in my bed and closed my eyes . 'I'm tired, that past few days were too eventful . I better get some proper rest' I thought . Before I could fall asleep, I could feel something moving next to me . I opened my eyes and looked behind me .

"What are you doing?" I asked . She replied as if it was natural "I just want to sit next to you, why do you ask?" . " . . . Just do whatever you want then" and closed my eyes again . I wanted to fall asleep but she had different plans . She asked "Hey, what is your name? I told you mine, shouldn't you also tell me yours?" . My first thought was 'Will I even get some rest with her around? Can't I just fall asleep peacefully?' and then replied "I'm Nex" .

She said "Nex… that is a weird name" . 'Just . . . What the fuck? Why am I the one with the weird name all the time?' I thought but I decided to not comment on that . She then asked "How old are you?" . I opened my eyes and turned around . "I'm 24, do you have any other questions?" to which she said "Yea, I have a lot" .

I gave up at that point . She would probably pester me for the whole night . I decided to ask some of my questions instead . I asked "What is that aura or power that you spoke of? I clearly never felt anything like it . Are you sure I have something like this?" to which she nodded her head and said "Of course . Otherwise I wouldn't be this strong . The aura seeps out of you when you sleep and I absorb it" .

'Hmmm . . . Now that I think about it, the only thing that could be connected to that aura or power is the Dark Traveller from my dreams . If so, what is the purpose of that aura or power?' I thought and decided to ask . "What is it exactly? Is it an aura like this?" I said and released an Aura of Dominance . She seemed stunned a bit but shook her head and said "No, it's nothing like this . It's like a dark cloud or smoke coming out from you, I collect and absorb it . I don't know how you can produce it either but it is beneficial to me" .

'So that's how it is! When I dream, the aura must be enveloping my body . This may be the reason why I use so much energy in my dreams . The aura consumes my energy and therefore, I feel hungry when I wake up . Besides that, due to energy used, I get stronger and my body is able to improve . This makes sense now!' I thought .

I knew that I was getting stronger thanks to my dreams but I didn't know how exactly . Doing some exercises in my dream would not impact the reality . 'This is where that aura comes in . The more I use it, the more energy I spend and the more my body improves . There also seems to be rules on what is improved, it probably depends on which dream I have . It doesn't improve my body alone, it can also do so with my sense and my mind . Now I finally know how my dreams work!' I thought .

'This is good and all but wouldn't that mean, she took a bit of my aura? Wouldn't I suffer due to that? I mean, I don't know how much she is taking . I should ask!' I thought and asked her "How much of that aura do you absorb?" . She thought about it and answered "Very little actually . I can't absorb much of it because it is very strong and takes me a long time to refine it . I don't think you should be worried about anything" .

'If what she says is true then there is no need to be worried, I guess . It's not like I won't get something out of it either . I will get to learn those stealth skills . I think that is a fair trade' I thought and said "So you are called Laly, right?", she responded "Yes, you remember" . I asked her "Then how old are you Laly?" . She thought about it for a while and said "Do you want to know human years or Eterian years?" . I was confused 'What? What does that even mean? A year is a year' . I asked confused "Isn't that the same thing? A year means a year, four seasons pass meaning a year" . She laughed a bit and said "No, I didn't mean it like that . We Eterians live longer, a lot longer than you humans . My Eterian age is longer but human equivalent is smaller . I will give you an example" . I was still confused but I waited for her further explanation .

"For example, when Eterian is 100 years old, it means that it reached adulthood . It would be equivalent to human's adulthood . When you are about 16 years of age, you reach adulthood . That is what I meant . "

I was shocked to be honest . '100 years to reach adulthood? Then how long can those Eterians live? 1000 years?' I thought and asked "So you have like over 100 years?" . She said "Yes, I'm 113 years old . Which would be about 17 years old human equivalent" . I had only one thought in my mind 'Damn!' .

Who wouldn't want to live that long . I decided to ask "So you want to tell me, you can live like 1000 years?" She smiled and replied "No, of course not . The oldest Eterians live up to 500 years but that is rare . Our lifespan ends at around 420th year" . I said "Still, that is couple of human generations . No wonder you have such constraints placed upon your race" . I then recalled the Cliff Walker . Those moving plants also had huge constraints placed on their kind . They didn't have predators but reproducing was very difficult for them . 'Eterians seem to be in the same boat' I thought .

I said "Wow, you are 4 times as old as me . I should call you grandma Laly" . I said it as a joke of course but she didn't seem to like that . Her response was quite angry "I'm not old! I'm still very young, younger than you!" . I thought I will tease her more and said "How can you be younger than me? I lived for 24 years and you for over a 100 . Everyone would say that you are older" . She again argued back that she wasn't old . I decided to drop it and said "I don't really care how old you are . I was just messing with you . Do you have any other questions? I would like to get some rest" .

She realized something and said "Right, you must be tired . I don't have any other questions . You can sleep now" . I said "OK, grandma Laly" and closed my eyes . I could still hear some grumbling behind me but she soon stopped . I was able to get some sleep finally .

Chapter end